Noel Gallagher has said Glastonbury 2024 got “a bit woke” for his liking.
Gallagher, who first performed at Worthy Farm with Oasis in 1994 and last performed solo in 2022, did clarify that despite his various gripes, the festival was “probably the best fucking thing about Britain apart from the Premier League.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I fucking love Glastonbury,” he told The Sun after the festival had concluded.
“It’s getting a bit woke now, that place, and a bit kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling,” he continued. “I don’t like it in music, little fucking idiots waving flags around and making political statements and bands taking the stage and saying, ‘Hey guys, isn’t war terrible, yeah? Let’s all boo war. Fuck the Tories man,’ and all that.”
The rock veteran, who was spotted side of stage watching LCD Soundsystem with Dave Grohl, added: “It’s like, look, play your fucking tunes and get off.”
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Glastonbury has a storied history of political engagement, which was heightened this year because it fell before the general election and amidst the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.
Among those who made political statements during their sets were PJ Harvey, Damon Albarn, IDLES, and Kneecap – who Gallagher watched and later said he “couldn’t believe how enjoyable it was”.
Harvey brought out performance artist Marina Abramović, who told the crowd: “The world is in a really shitty place… There is war, there is a hunger, there is a protest, there is a killing, there is a violence. But what is happening if we look into the big picture? Violence brings more violence. Killing brings more killing. Anger brings more anger. Demonstration brings more demonstration.”
Albarn, who joined Bombay Bicycle Club, used his guest spot to address “three things” with the crowd. “Are you pro-Palestine?” he asked, to cheers. “Do you feel that’s an unfair war?” He also addressed the election, stressing “the importance of voting next week” before saying: “Maybe it’s time we stop putting octogenarians in control of the whole world.”
IDLES’ set quite controversially featured a Banksy-assisted protest with a migrant float, which went on to be dismissed as “vile and unacceptable” by the Home Secretary.
In a round-up of Glastonbury’s most magical moments, NME wrote: “It was bound to be divisive, but the Bansky-designed dinghy, populated with dummies to represent a migrant boat, proved to be a powerful moment during IDLES’ incendiary headline performance on the Other Stage.”
Gallagher’s assessment was that these artists should “stop yapping about it” and simply donate their own money.
“Everybody knows what’s going on in the fucking world, you’ve got a phone in your pocket that tells you anyway,” he said. “What’s the point of virtue-signalling?”